New Year's Resolutions

I feel like there's a love/hate relationship with making goals for the new year. 

They're all the same. 

They never get accomplished. 

It's just a date and doesn't mean anything. 

I've heard it all. This past year was good to me. I left the country for the first time, visited NYC, became a big to two perfect littles, grew closer with my sorority sisters, made some amazing friends and started to really figure out who I want to be. That's why I took some time to think of resolutions for 2015 that are different and more beneficial than just saying I'm going to lose ten pounds (although I wouldn't mind if that happened, too). 

So here they are, my New Year's Resolutions for 2015:

1. To Not Pull (as many) All-Nighters

This is my way of working on my procrastination habits. If I don't have a reason to stay up until 4 a.m. I won't. By nixing all-nighters from my agenda I am forced to work on my schoolwork before 10 o'clock at night, which is usually when I would start my assignments last year.

2. Use My Cameras

I have a Canon t3, GoPro, and Polaroid. They all work great, but I always make excuses to not bring them along on my adventures. I'd like to really document 2015. Not just holidays and events, but daily occurrences that make life enjoyable. Who knows, maybe I'll do a 100 Happy Days challenge this year to get more comfortable with photographing.

3. Work on a 5-year Plan That's Centered Solely on my Goals.

I recently found out that my concurrent hours have made my graduation date closer than I thought. Unless I study abroad, I will be graduating after my spring 2016 semester. The idea of not having a "senior year" college experience or graduating with my friends upsets me, but it also means I have no choice but to focus on myself. This year I need to make a plan for the years to come, and figure out how to make it happen. 

4. Post on the Blog At Least Once a Month
Why have a blog if I don't post on it? There was so much I could have written about last semester if I had managed my time better. I love writing and need to make time to enjoy this hobby. Once a month doesn't seem like a lot, but it's better than once every 2-3 months like last semester. I have to start somewhere.

I can't wait to see what this upcoming year has in store for me. What are your goals for 2015?

Happy New Year,
Lex

Christmas Eve & NYC

I've covered a lot of ground these past four days.

On Sunday I left my dad's house in upstate (basically Canada) New York and headed to the Big Apple with my aunt. It was a great way to break up my 11 day trip and an even better change of scenery. Seeing NYC in the winter was completely different than my visit over the summer. The city had me enjoying the cold, woah.

Sunday was a simple day because of the long drive. However, Monday we saw a lot of the city. My aunt and I took my cousins to a circus in Lincoln Center, walked 5th Avenue and saw the famous Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center. 

I couldn't stop thinking of Elf quotes while looking at the tree. 

Aunt Katie and I outside of the Lincoln Center Theater

After seeing the tree we all went to dinner in Chinatown. We ended up meeting up with some of my aunt's friends, Chris and Ginny, at dinner. They were in the city for the weekend and when Ginny left the table Chris told us he was going to propose to her in front of the Rockefeller tree after we were done with our meal. My heart melted. I love when people are in love. 

Tuesday was the best ending to my city trip. My cousin, Emilia, was getting sick so I went off into NYC by myself. If you've ever been with me in a car it doesn't take long to conclude that I'm extremely directionally challenged. I use GPS to go everywhere and can barely get around my own hometown. As Katie was drawing out directions for me I tried to act calm and collected, but the second I left the safety of her apartment I panicked. There I was, headed to explore one of the biggest cities in the world...alone. 

However, thanks to the lovely map she drew me and the "Embark NYC" App, I made it to 34th Street and back to Brooklyn in one piece.

 I got back to my dad's this afternoon so I could spend Christmas Eve with them. We delivered homemade cookies to friends, had a nice dinner and went to a perfect candlelight church service to celebrate our Savior.

I wish I could put into words how great this trip has been. Thankful doesn't even begin to cover it.

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays, 

Lex

Catching Up

OK, so this semester was a little more hectic than planned.

I wish I had posted on here more than twice over these past 4 months. However, if you really just love my writing, I was assigned to do a weekly blog post for my electronic communications class. You can view that blog here. We were given three article each week and had to write a short post about one of them, which is why some of the topics are a little out there. 

Fast forward to right here, right now.

I am currently at my dad's house in upstate New York. Yesterday was Karina's 6th birthday, so I flew in to surprise her. She wasn't as amused as I'd hoped she'd be about me spontaneously showing up across the country, but it was great to be able to spend the day with her.

Doesn't she seem thrilled?

On Sunday I'll be headed to NYC with my aunt for a few days, so I'll be sure to post about that. I'm beyond excited to see the city during Christmas time. Maybe I'll watch Elf before I go to really get into the NYC spirit. 

Hooray for the holiday season and being back on the blog!

With love, 

Lex

I'm Finally a Big!

Last night was Gamma Phi's big-little reveal, and it couldn't have been better!

After almost a month of knowing, I can finally say Annie and Courtney are officially mine.

Annie (left) and Courtney (right)

Keeping it a secret that I was getting both of them as my littles was almost impossible.

I kind of blew it in the beginning. Annie saw big-little stuff on my bed one night and I had to stop myself from calling them "little" whenever I saw them. Not to mention I am the WORST liar. So basically the entire ordeal was pretty stressful for me, but it was all worth it in the end! (even the hours I spent slaving over the few crafts I made myself)

Annie was so excited she didn't put on her big-little clothes.

Sadly I can't take credit for all of these.

Big-little has always been something I've looked forward to. When I officially became Mikki and Lauren's little it was like Christmas in October. Welcoming Courtney and Annie into the fam last night was even better. I have been awaiting the day for me to become a big since summer. I started painting canvases and pinning gift ideas for them before I even knew their names, before they were even Gamma Phis. I even wrote a post about it a few months ago, which you can view here.

It was just one year ago that I got my bigs, and now I am one. I am so thankful to have a Gamma Phi Beta family that makes college so indescribably fun. I love ya'll more than you know.

 Welcome to the sassiest and most fun-loving family in the GPhiB, little ones! There isn't anyone who could fit into this dysfunctional fam better than you guys do. Ya'll are the perfect littles for me and I can't wait to create more memories with you two by my side.

To the moon and back,
Lex

Oh, happy day!

GAMMA PHI BETA'S NEW PLEDGE CLASS IS FINALLY HERE!

Since July 26th my Gamma Phi chapter has been working countless hours in order to get the best pledge class possible...

... and it was worth every second!

Yesterday we welcomed home 60 kind, beautiful, and outgoing women as our new sisters. 

My pledge class waiting for the arrival of our future littles!

It was, hands down, the best possible way I could have spent my 19th birthday.

Each member of my pledge class picked a new member to be our "bid day buddy", meaning we held their sign as they ran home and hung out with them all of bid day.

I met my buddy, Dylan, during the first round of recruitment and I am so happy I can now share this year's experiences in Gamma Phi with this sweet girl!

I was also extremely excited to be reunited with Lauren. She was my bid day buddy when I ran home to Gamma Phi last year.

From bid day buddies to big/little 

A huge shoutout to Kelsi Hildreth and Hannah Kissick for being awesome recruitment chairs. Without ya'll none of this would have even been possible. I am so thankful for your hard work and dedication to this chapter. Love ya to the moon!

~Photo creds to Kelsi's Instagram~

PC 14', I am so incredibly happy for you guys! Welcome to the strongest sisterhood at Oklahoma State, pretty ladies!

Peace, love, sisterhood,

Lex

¡Hola Amigos!

I am officially done traveling for the summer!

July 6th marked my first time out of the continental US; and will hopefully represent the beginning of more international trips to come.
Mexico was a blast.
We stayed at a huge resort in Riviera Maya called the Grand Palladium, which was one of a kind to say the least. There was tons of wildlife present and it felt like many parts of the area were still untouched despite being in the midst of a massive hotel group.

There were hundreds of these little guys running around the resort. They loved company and would stand on their hind legs to beg for food.

I spent the majority of my week being a beach bum or laying by the pool with my mom and her friend's daughters. We only left the resort for one day, and it was to go to Xel-Ha (pronounced "Shell-Ha"). Xel-Ha is a park in Riviera Maya where a freshwater river meets the ocean and, in turn, creates an incredible wildlife habitat for visitors to snorkel and tube through. The float down this river was only an hour long, but incredibly enjoyable since we spent the first half of our day exploring some nearby Mayan ruins.

The Mayans definitely knew how to pick a good location

The heat and humidity are borderline unbearable when you're this close to the Equator so getting to spend the remainder of our afternoon in a river was total bliss.

I couldn't think of 9 better people to share my first international experience with and am so thankful for the opportunities I had to travel to new places this summer. Stillwater, I'll see you in 4 days!

These next couple weeks are about to be extremely hectic, but I will try and keep this updated as much as I can.

Also, a huge thank you to Phil-C for the photos from this trip. You rock.

Until next time,
Lex

Lex in the City

What an incredible past several days it’s been!

Last Saturday I left Texas to meet up with my dad, step mom, sister, and 2 stepbrothers for this year’s family vacation. We try to do something fun together every summer and this year we have two destinations: New Jersey and NYC

I flew into New Jersey, where we stayed Saturday-Wednesday. This half of our week long adventure was focused mostly on the kiddos. With my brothers being 9 and 10, my sister being 5, and being 18 myself, it can be difficult to find vacation spots where we can all enjoy ourselves. We spent  a majority of our time at the New Jersey Six Flags and Hurricane Harbor parks. I would be lying if I said it was only enjoyable for the younger ones. I got to feed GIRAFFES (a dream come true!) and nothing makes me happier than wave pools and lazy rivers. Basically, despite it being a kid-orientated couple of days, I couldn’t have enjoyed myself anymore. Sometimes it’s great to just enjoy some Swedish Fish flavored Italian ice and sweat it out at an amusement park for three days. Although by the end of Day 3 I was absolutely exhausted...

We ended up becoming great pals.

In the middle of our New Jersey portion of the trip we took a break from the rides and chaos to have a relaxing day at Belmar beach. The boys got some private surf lessons while I napped in the sand and made my skin a bright shade of crimson just in time for our trip to Hurricane Harbor the following day.  The beach day was definitely my favorite part.  We ate 3 Brothers Pizza, enjoyed the sand, and went to the boardwalk to finish off our day away from Six Flags.

I sadly did not take any pictures at the boardwalk, but it was beautiful!

Wednesday eventually rolled around and, after I ate my body weight in fried food, we headed to the Big Apple. Before crossing the NJ-NY border we took a ferry ride to Ellis Island and The Statue of Liberty. My sister, Karina, was so stinkin’ cute. When the kids found out we were going to Ellis Island via boat ride she exclaimed “Because we are fishing for liberty, right???” Absolutely precious.

Our hotel in NYC couldn’t have been better. We stayed at the Double Tree, which was right in the middle of Times Square. I have been to upstate New York countless times, but this was my first time actually seeing New York City. Even with the constant flash flood warnings it was breathtaking. I don’t think you could ever run out of things to do there. For the three days we were there we were constantly on the go, and it still felt like there was so much more to see and do. This is definitely a place I will need to return to in the future. Despite several changes of plans due to the rain, my first experience in the Big Apple was one for the books. 

If you're ever in NYC be sure to check out Ella's Stardust Diner. It's a really unique dining experience you could not get anywhere else. So much fun!

The pictures were limited on this trip because my iPhone can only do so much. I didn't have quite enough room for my camera this time around, but hopefully I will make up for the lack of pictures in my next post!

See ya'll in a week. It's 2am and I have to head to the airport at 5:15, but I couldn't just leave the country without posting first. Mexico, here I come!

Be back soon, 

Lex